


karikari

by fromthemist



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Meet-Cute, University Student Akaashi Keiji, University Student Miya Osamu, ish, osamu making a fool of himself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:55:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29470536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fromthemist/pseuds/fromthemist
Summary: Keiji finds an unusual study spot – and eventually, maybe a date too.↳a short university auft. katsu curry and a pining osamu
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Miya Osamu
Comments: 49
Kudos: 351





	karikari

**Author's Note:**

> a short little drabble based on my need to clown both miya twins, not just atsumu. this is set in the same universe as [figure study](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29282955), but this fic can be read on its own! this is also my first time writing osaaka, but i had a lot of fun~ hope you enjoy it! (also unbetaed for now)
> 
>  **かりかり || karikari** – 1. (adj.) crispy, crunchy; 2. (adv.) crossly, irritably

Keiji’s favorite study spot, contrary to what most people would assume, is the curry shop two blocks from his apartment.

Admittedly, it seems a little strange. In high school, Keiji got used to studying in the quiet murmur of Fukuroudani’s study hall – he’d assumed that university would be largely the same, but he quickly finds himself struggling to focus in crowded libraries and noisy study cafes.

It takes two months to stumble upon his newfound haven – drawing him in first by the smell, a heady aroma of curry makes his mouth water and promises nothing short of deliciousness. There’s a cat lazing on the front stoop, a cheery voice calling out to him in welcome as he enters, and the young woman behind the cash register takes one look at Keiji’s disheveled, sleep-deprived state before ushering him to a table. A dish of katsu curry is quickly placed in front him with a smile, and the woman warmly tells him to eat well.

After a hellish week of nonstop exams and papers, running on instant coffee and two hours of sleep – Keiji has never been so close to bursting into tears.

In that moment, it’s the most delicious thing he’s ever eaten in his entire life – it tastes even better when he realizes that his meal is half the price and thrice the size of the bentos he usually scarfs down from the campus café, and proceeds to pin the shop on his phone map so he can come back for a cheap, delicious meal.

He isn’t sure when he goes from coming for the food to coming for the atmosphere too. The shop tends to run quiet, patrons speaking mostly in low murmurs that easily blur into background noise. There’s always a steady stream of customers, but even then, the shop is never truly full. He can take a small table for himself, large enough for a heaping dish and a book – and when Asa, the same woman from before, sees Keiji hesitate to leave one night, she waves him back into his seat with a fresh refill of tea and an invitation to stay as long as he likes. 

This is how Keiji finds himself in a curry shop nearly every night, week after week – tucked in his favorite corner table, enjoying a warm meal and working on his assignments. He goes from stranger to regular, from Akaashi-san to Keiji-kun – he even helps clean up on days when he studies until closing, stacking stools as Asa mops the floor. 

It’s a slice of unexpected peace as he buckles under an avalanche of homework, but like all things, it doesn’t last.

As the semester continues, people start to venture out more; Keiji’s quiet study spot gets a little livelier. A quartet of girls, then a professor, a few solo students who come and eat and leave within twenty minutes; it’s simple enough to ignore the extra noise in the face of delicious food and a good book. 

The only ones who are actually disruptive are the pair of male students that come into the shop every Friday evening, loud and boisterous as they duck past the noren curtains at the door. The dark and light hair colors help Keiji tell them apart, but they bicker obnoxiously as they tuck into their food, pausing to inhale their curries between bouts of chopstick sparring. 

While the squabbling never fails to ruin Keiji’s concentration, he persists in trying to block it out – except, it isn’t so easy when they show up one evening with a parade at their heels, filling the shop with cackling loud enough to break him. 

“Leaving so soon, Keiji-kun?” Asa looks surprised to see him waiting for her at the register, coin pouch in hand. 

He half-smiles, carefully counting out 600 yen. “It’s a bit too loud to be studying here tonight,” he says, glancing at the group that has taken up nearly all the tables in the shop. There’s a line outside, the first Keiji has seen since he started coming here, and he’s not the type to linger when people are waiting. “Hopefully I’ll be luckier next time.” 

“They’re not so bad,” Asa laughs, but she dutifully takes the coins. As she closes his check, Keiji lets his gaze wander, brows furrowing when he spots someone who looks oddly familiar. 

Two someones. 

Keiji blinks. “... Miya-san?” 

Two heads snap up, blonde and black, and Keiji doesn’t know what to think when Miya Osamu chokes on his curry just as Miya Atsumu smacks his brother on the back and says, “Oi ‘Samu, ya never said the curry shop guy ya keep moonin’ over was Fukuroudani’s setter!” 

It takes a second to try and process Atsumu’s words. “The what?”

“It’s Keiji-kun, yeah?” Atsumu grins, wide and mischievous. “Lemme tell ya, run while ya still can – ”

“Should’ve killed ya when I had the chance,” Osamu snarls hoarsely, trapping Atsumu in a headlock that has Atsumu hollering – all while the rest of their friends continue eating like this is a normal occurrence. 

Keiji feels like he’s in some kind of bizarre dream. There’s nobody else he recognizes at the table, but seeing the infamous Miya twins in  _ his  _ curry shop is too strange to be a coincidence – especially when Keiji is 99.99% positive that they go to an entirely different university, at least a half-hour away. 

The nearest person sticks out a hand, smiling. “Keiji-kun, is it?” 

“... I prefer Akaashi, please.”

“Akaashi-san, then,” the man says cheerily. “Gotta say, I see why Osamu’s so smitten – ”

“Another word and I will make your life a living hell, Yamakawa,” Osamu barks, and Keiji’s attention snaps back to where the Miya twins are sitting – or rather, where Osamu is sitting, and Atsumu is grumbling under his breath as he remains tucked under Osamu’s arm. 

There’s something dangerous shining in those gray eyes, something that has Yamakawa yelping, but the cutting glare melts away once Osamu meets Keiji’s gaze, cheeks reddening in embarrassment. His eyes dart away, mouth opening and closing – as if he can’t decide what to say – and Keiji feels a little rush of sympathy bloom in his chest. 

As awkward as he feels, Osamu looks like he’s two seconds away from burying his head in his plate of curry, a mix of visible mortification and dejection in his expression. 

Keiji clears his throat. “... Osamu-san?” 

“Uhm – Akaashi-san.” Osamu winces as his voice cracks, and Atsumu’s quiet snicker is quickly cut off. “Any chance ya could pretend like ya didn’t hear any of that just now?” 

“I’m afraid not.” Keiji can let Osamu off the hook, but a part of him is also curious – a little too much. “I’m… the curry shop guy?” 

Osamu smiles weakly. “No?” 

“Yes,” a chorus of voices chime in: Atsumu, Yamakawa, nearly everyone in their group – as well as one person in particular. 

“It was pretty cute to watch, in all fairness.” Asa looks terribly amused when Keiji turns to her incredulously, and Osamu’s muttered “kill me now” goes unheeded as she continues, “He started coming in right around when you did, and kept staring at you with these big puppy dog eyes… I was going to set you guys up, but this is  _ waaaay  _ better.” 

“You – ” Osamu groans, releasing Atsumu in favor of burying his face in his hands. “You’re dead to me too. Every single one of you.”

And Keiji, just to be contrary, can’t help but ask, “Even me?” 

Osamu freezes, slowly peeking through his fingers. Everyone is quiet – even Atsumu, who’s wheezing into his sleeve – waiting to see what he’ll say. 

“ ‘Course not,” he mumbles eventually. “But let a guy leave with a little pride, wouldja?” 

Keiji raises an eyebrow. “You haven’t even let me respond yet.” 

Osamu’s eyes go wide. “Yer saying yes?”

“Yer saying  _ yes _ ?” Atsumu rasps, voice straining. “After he just tried t’kill me?”

“I’m saying let’s see, because I’d like to know more exactly what Osamu-san has said about me,” Keiji corrects, glancing at his watch. “But since my bus is coming in six minutes…” 

He takes a pen from his pocket, neatly squeezing past chairs and tables as he makes his way towards Osamu. There’s a bit of good-natured ribbing, jeers that makes Keiji’s ears go hot, but when he gets to his destination, Osamu is looking up at him like he can’t quite believe what’s happening. 

“May I?” 

Osamu nods dumbly, watching as Keiji reaches out and pulls his hand away from his face. Cupping the back of his hand to keep it steady, Keiji scribbles his cell number across Osamu’s calloused palm with deft strokes, the blue ink stark against tan skin, before he curls Osamu’s fingers over the string of numbers. 

“I look forward to hearing from you, Osamu-san,” Keiji says, thumb stroking over Osamu’s knuckles once before letting go. Osamu’s entire face turns scarlet, mouth dropping open, and Keiji smirks as he hurries out to the sound of whooping and Asa’s bright laughter. 

He bows apologetically to the short line of people outside, pausing to slip his pen back into his pocket, but takes a moment to glance back through the shop window one more time. 

Even with Atsumu shaking him, Osamu is still blushing, staring down at his palm – a little tongue-tied, a little dazed. He’s trying to bite back a grin, chewing at his bottom lip with a pink flush staining the tops of his cheeks, and – 

_ Huh _ . 

In the past, Keiji had never really thought about Osamu beyond a passing acknowledgement of his attractiveness. At first glance, he’d always seemed a bit uninterested, a bit passive when compared to Atsumu, but right now… 

Keiji takes an extra second to soak in the sight, lips curling into a smile, before continuing on to the bus stop. 

_ Cute. _

**Author's Note:**

> keiji is skeptical when osamu says he'd like to cook for their first date. he's very quickly proven wrong. 
> 
> [edit]: AHH! the amazingly talented @fiendishpal on twitter created [this stunning fanart](https://twitter.com/fiendishpal/status/1361591007960133638?s=20), so please give it some support!! they drew osamu and akaashi exactly as i imagined them in this au, and i'm still vibrating from sheer excitement. thank you so much fiend!! 
> 
> \--
> 
> based off of my uni days, where i studied in a curry shop bc the libraries were too crowded. sadly, no dates came out of it 🙃 thanks for reading!
> 
> p.s.: if anyone has twitter, my username is [@dalla_nebbia](https://twitter.com/dalla_nebbia) \- feel free to drop by and say hi! ♡


End file.
